The California Avocado Commission has extended its program promoting the use of California avocados at breakfast with retail support materials, public relations outreach featuring registered dietitians spokespersons and digital media.

Bonnie Taub-Dix"Initiatives like our breakfast campaign are positioned to successfully expand usage of California avocados in support of overall category growth," Jan DeLyser, vice president of marketing for the CAC, said in a press release.

The Avocado Tracking Study conducted by Bovitz Inc. in fall 2013 indicated an opportunity for increased usage of avocados at breakfast. Specifically, 76 percent and 81 percent of consumers in California avocado advertising markets said they eat avocados at lunch and dinner, respectively. In contrast only 35 percent of those consumers said they eat avocados at breakfast.

CAC aims to get more of those consumers eating avocados throughout the day.

The commission's breakfast campaign began in 2013 and drew considerable consumer attention, including 75,000 visits to a special California Avocados for Breakfast web page.

This year's breakfast web page, (CaliforniaAvocado.com/avocados-for-breakfast) went live July 30 and features a host of new recipes and tips. The program includes a breakfast-themed email to 220,000 subscribing California avocado fans as well as content on CAC's The Scoop blog.

To date its most popular recipe blog post was on the topic of Mother's Day Breakfast in Bed. Other posts featuring California avocado breakfast ideas will follow.

CAC is working with registered dietitians to share good news about California avocado nutrition and the importance of eating breakfast.

Well-known registered dietitians Michelle Dudash and Bonnie Taub-Dix provided content and outreach for CAC's breakfast campaign, including two new California avocado recipes with 130 calories or less per serving: California Avocado Pumpkin Bread with Dark Chocolate Chips and Almonds, which uses California avocados as a fat replacer in baking; and Eggs-traordinary California Avocado Breakfast Muffins, a make-ahead on-the-go breakfast option.

CAC distributed both a press release and mat release featuring these recipes and information about the benefits of eating avocados at breakfast time.

Taub-Dix also hosted CAC's breakfast-themed Twitter party on July 20.

Other social media channels are part of the program, including Facebook, where California avocados have 272,000 fans. Instagram and Pinterest pages give bloggers and consumers the opportunity to share their love of California avocados for breakfast. The most popular types of dishes include avocados on toast, eggs cooked in or with avocados, breakfast baking with avocados, especially muffins, smoothies and breakfast sandwiches.

CAC also sponsored California avocado breakfast content on the popular blog and website SeriousEats.com.